Featured photos

Canada got the last hurrah at the Celebration of Light Saturday evening, closing the three-night event with a winning display. Canada was declared the winner of the event, with Brazil and China finishing second and third, respectively.

Craig McInnes: Christy Clark’s jobs plan won’t fit with climate plan

Environment Minister Terry Lake says he remains committed to greenhouse-gas emission targets and his government has no plans to revisit them until it sees the interim numbers from 2016, which won’t be available until 2018.

Photograph by: Jonathan Hayward
, The Canadian Press

Premier Christy Clark’s widely advertised BC Jobs Plan calls for the completion of at least three LNG export plants by 2020 and the natural gas business adding $1 trillion to the economy over the next three decades.

If 2020 sounds familiar, it may be because it was central to another cornerstone plan brought in by her predecessor that was touted as a roadmap toward a prosperous and green future for the province, the B.C. Climate Action Plan.

The targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in B.C. in the climate action plan are still the official policy of the Clark government, even though a lot has changed — including the explosion of interest in exporting natural gas — since they were proudly unveiled by then premier Gordon Campbell in 2007 and 2008.

The plan called for a reduction of emissions by 33 per cent from 2007 levels by 2020, with interim targets of a six-per-cent reduction by 2012 and an 18-per-cent reduction by 2016.

To try to meet those targets, the province brought in a carbon tax, pledged to make the government carbon neutral and started work on a cap and trade plan to bring down industrial emissions, among other initiatives.

The carbon tax was increased gradually until this year and is now under review. The province claims it is now carbon neutral in its own operations, but it has achieved that status through the controversial practice of buying offsets.

The cap and trade system is on hold. Many of the other jurisdictions that had talked about taking part in a carbon trading plan have bailed and there is no timeline for the revival of any such scheme.

This week, the left-leaning Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives looked at the natural gas bonanza central to the government’s jobs plan to see what effect it would have on the goals of the climate action plan.

The result wasn’t pretty. While the 2012 reduction may be achievable — we won’t know until 2014 because of the lag in emissions reporting — the later targets are turned into so much hot air.

Those targets are set in legislation, but there is no penalty if they are missed.

In an interview Thursday, Environment Minister Terry Lake said he remains committed to the targets and his government has no plans to revisit them until it sees the interim numbers from 2016, which won’t be available until 2018.

“We acknowledge that we are responsible for our own greenhouse gas targets and we know it will be a challenge to meet those by 2020. However, I think when we look at this opportunity around liquefied natural gas, it’s really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for economic development of a resource that we have a lot of.”

If nothing else, Lake is an optimist. By the time the 2016 numbers are known, I can’t see how the government will be able to do anything but admit defeat.

Lake doesn’t agree.

“I certainly don’t want to say that this is a challenge that we can’t meet. I’m not anywhere near to admitting that. I think that as British Columbians we want to be leaders on this file and we want to do everything that we can to try to meet those targets.”

Everything, that is, except anything that would jeopardize the sale of natural gas, or presumably the next once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that comes along.

Assuming the gas exports go ahead, and that’s a big if, given the number of players now rushing into the LNG market, the impact on the environment won’t be limited to what gets counted under the internationally accepted accounting system for greenhouse gas emissions.

Under that system, B.C. only gets charged for the energy we use, not the energy that we produce that is used by someone else. The Centre for Policy Alternatives report estimates the LNG we hope to export, once burned in Asia, will be the equivalent of putting another 24-64 million cars on the road.

Lake argues we will be doing the earth a favour by allowing importing countries to use natural gas to replace coal.

If it’s used to replace nuclear power, as it may be in Japan where the meltdown at Fukishima has led to widespread opposition to restarting reactors, it will have the opposite effect.

That’s still OK, says Lake.

“If Japan is switching away from nuclear power ... I would rather they use British Columbia’s natural gas rather than coal or other higher carbon intense fuels.”

Environment Minister Terry Lake says he remains committed to greenhouse-gas emission targets and his government has no plans to revisit them until it sees the interim numbers from 2016, which won’t be available until 2018.

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.